CM has decided to boycott a Nagpur Metro function today following snubs during two previous appearances with the Prime Minister
Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan has decided to boycott Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Nagpur tour scheduled for today.
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PM Modi and CM Chavan at a function in Mumbai on Saturday
mid-day had reported yesterday that the CM was considering doing so given the sour mood in the Congress after he was snubbed during two appearances with the PM and a similar thing had happened to his Haryana counterpart Bhupinder Singh Hooda.
State Congress leaders were of the view that Chavan should not attend the Nagpur function in which PM Modi is slated to perform bhoomi pujan for the Metro. The CM had initially accepted the invitation extended by Union minister Nitin Gadkari, who represents Napgur in the Lok Sabha.
mid-day’s report yesterday
The CM’s decision was precipitated by the incidents in Nava Sheva and Solapur on August 16. During the Nava Sheva function, the CM had received a political snub when the PM had used his complaint against the slow movement on SEZs to take pot shots at the previous UPA regime. In Solapur later that evening, the crowd had begun chanting Modi’s name during CM Chavan’s speech, forcing him to abandon it midway.
On Tuesday, Haryana CM Hooda was humiliated at a Union government function when he was booed by the crowd in the presence of PM Modi. An angry Hooda had said that he would never share a dais with the PM again.
Given this history, MPCC leaders had urged CM Chavan to boycott the Nagpur function and he acceded to their demand yesterday, saying the recent incidents had breached the spirit of the Union. As reported by mid-day, Nagpur guardian minister Nitin Raut will also skip the function.
Congress fumes
Objecting to the Solapur incident, the state Congress said yesterday that it would not tolerate such incidents in future. “The suspicion that Modi has a dictator’s mentality is now coming true. Before this, a chief minister had never been humiliated in the presence of any Prime Minister.
Modi supporters created disturbance and the PM did not utter a word. This is dangerous for democracy,” said Maharashtra Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant. “Such incidents were not expected to happen in Maharashtra which boasts of progressive ideology of Rajarshi Shahu, Mahatma Phule and Babasaheb Ambedkar,” he added.
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